A new home
by tmntlover4
Summary: When a girl from a broken home runs away to get away from her problems, she won't believe who she meets.
1. Running

The air was cold and brisk making Sam feel numb, even more than usual. She woke up shivering, I mean sure the shivering was normal but its never been bad enough for her to wake up because of it. Sam looked around pulling her blanket up higher to meet her neck. It didn't really feel like a blanket anymore, it was thin and worn out, but she had to make due with what she had. The car horns, police sirens, and bustling people even in the early hours of the morning was what made New York City seem so alive. She shifted around trying to make herself more comfortable on the gravelly roof top. She looked up wishing she could see the stars like back in Vermont. It was the only thing other than music that helped her escape from reality. Now she didn't have either. She couldn't go back home though. '_He_ would be there, waiting for me. I can't think about him, not now, not ever. I came here to escape and that's exactly what I did' she thought. She couldn't help the feeling of wanting a home though, where she was actually wanted and loved.

"Well the sun is almost up, time to get going" she said, knowing that she really didn't want to leave the roof top. Sam packed her blanket back into her backpack, threw it on, and climbed down the fire escape.

"Time for work"

* * *

April walked downstairs to the shop slowly, dreading the flip of the sign from closed to open. Friday was the busiest day but at least the weekend was tomorrow. She kind of had a love~hate relationship with Friday. She was tired from last night because the guys stayed until twelve, they just turned 17 this week and she decided that it would be nice to invite them over for a movie night.

The door rang as it was pushed open, "Good Morning Miss O'Neil", Sam said as she waved to April.

"Good morning Sam, like I said, you can call me April" April said and smiled sweetly.

"Right, Sorry April. So what's in store for me today?" Sam said, putting her bag in the back room.

Today was Friday and it would end her second full week of work. April hired her two weeks ago telling her she could start on Monday. Sam was so happy she was finally getting paid, she could finally start getting decent meals and saving up for a new blanket and clothes. April didn't know that she spent her time roaming the streets and sleeping on roof tops. She just thought that she came from a poor household, so she let Sam do her laundry in the back room. She also would invite her upstairs to her apartment to make her lunch during their lunch break.

"Well today is Friday so it will probably be busy, so just help up here with the second register" She patted the desk next to the register.

"Alrighty, no problem."

She walked over and sat into the chair next to April, the chair creaked and she sighed. She didn't want this to fall into an awkward silence so she decided to keep the conversation going.

"So how's you and Casey?"

* * *

The sound of morning cartoons echoed throughout the lair, along with the slight tapping of a keyboard, and the sound of someone punching a punching bag.

"Hey..." Mikey stared at Donny and waited. "Hey Donny..." He didn't like the fact that he was being ignored. "HEELLLOOOO, EARTH TO DONATELLOO"

Donny stopped typing and slowly looked up at his pestering younger brother. "Yes, Mikey?"

"Whatcha doin?" Mikey asked before taking a loud obnoxious sip of his soda.

"I'm Checking the security systems mike, what do you want?"

"Just wondering..." Mikey hesitated. "So how long do ya think Raph is gonna take to cool off this time?" He gave a half smirk, but he was half serious at the same time. He didn't like it when Raph and Leo would fight, no one did.

Donnie sighed and looked up from his computer again. He knew Mikey took it the hardest when he brothers would fight. Mikey was the light of the family and the most innocent, so naturally he doesn't respond well to negativity.

"Well I-"

"As long as it has to take Mike, Don't worry about it" Leo said in a half serious half comforting tone as he cut Donnie off. He knew Raph always took it hard when he couldn't save someone in time.

"But it was last night Leo" Mikey said concerned, knowing that tonight's patrol would start in an hour.

"I know Mike, he'll come around" Leo said trying to comfort his youngest brother.

"It's hard on all of us when we see an innocent get killed...Raph just takes it the hardest" Don said as he heard the punches subside, and watched Raph walk out of the dojo and into his room.

-(Flashback)-

_Leonardo and Raphael were sprinting, trying to follow the sound of the gun shot that went off. They were running for what felt like forever when they finally reached the edge of a building that the gun shot sounded off from and looked down._

_"Fuck" Raph said, as his voice slightly hitched looking down at the lifeless woman. "We coulda made it here-" he was cut off by the sound of police sirens, but he didn't see the guy who shot her anywhere._

_"Come on Raph, I think patrol's over for tonight, lets go get the guys and go home" Leo said starting to walk back the other way, shortly followed by Raph._

_(Back Home)_

_"WE COULDA MADE IT DER LEO!" Raph shouted_

_"But we didn't Raph, what happened happened, we can't do anything about it now" Leo said trying to reason. He knew this fight was coming to an end._

_"Whateva Leo, you're always wantin ta do betta, and den when we fail ta save someone you don't care"_

_"It's not that I don't care Raph, I just know now to accept when we did all that we could have done"_

_"Whateva leo" Raph huffed and walked off._

* * *

"I think you've earned the pleasure of flipping the sign Sam" April said smiling "I'm glad I hired you, you're a huge help" April wiped her forehead in a joking way obviously tired after a long day of dealing with costumers.

Sam laughed and walked over to the sign. "Drum roll please" Sam said as April took two pens off the counter and started tapping them. Sam flipped the sign "Closed" said Sam, happy to finally close up.

"Thank god, I don't know if I would have been able to deal with another pushy customer" said April laughing. Sam laughed back and went into the back room to retrieve her backpack. She didn't quite know where she was going to go for the night, she just hoped that it wouldn't be as cold as last night. Although, winter was inevitable.

"It's starting to get chilly Sam, are one of your parents coming to pick you up?" April said looking outside at all the people who started to breakout their winter clothing.

"..Uh no" Sam hesitated "It's not that far of a walk, I'll be fine" Sam plastered a smile on her face as she waved. "See you Monday April"

"Yea, see ya" April waved back. "Stay warm!"

Sam started walking down the sidewalk, she decided she would go back to the rooftop from last night. There was nothing wrong with that rooftop, unlike the last one when a woman walked out with her morning coffee only to get startled to see a just as startled Sam. They both just stood there for a second questioning what they should do. Sam made the first move and bolted down the fire escape. The woman called after her but Sam couldn't risk getting found out, so she ran. So last night's rooftop seemed like a good pick. Sam saw the building a block down. There wasn't too many people around in this neighborhood. She'd heard about people being mugged and other things she'd rather not think about but thankfully she was careful and in the 3 months she's been here, nothing has happened to her.

Just then she heard a deep laugh and swung her body around to face the alleyway where a couple street thugs were all smirking. The biggest guy emerged from behind. Sam was terrified. 

"Well, lookie what we have here" was all he could say before Sam started to sprint. And they all followed.

* * *

**Hope you guys like it so far :) Tell me if I should keep going or not, I've been reading stories on here for a while so I decided I should give it a go. **


	2. Are you ok?

Sam was in a full blown sprint. Her heart was all she could hear pounding in her ears. The building was coming up on her right, but if she ran into the ally to climb up to the top they would definitely find her, so she ran past it.

'Maybe if I keep running they'll just give up' she thought, she just hoped that they would give up soon because her adrenaline wasn't going to last her much longer. They kept yelling after her, but she was so scared she only heard what some of them were saying.

"Get back here!" One of them yelled, along with another saying "Where ya gonna go eh?!"

She kept running, her legs were burning and she was breathing hard. She realized that she couldn't hear their heavy footsteps behind her or the crude commentary they were yelling at her anymore, and looked back. There was no one there. It was quiet. Too quiet. She took a minute to catch her breath while trying to figure out where to go next. She'd never been in this part of town before, although it wasn't too far from the crowded streets, it still didn't change the fact that Sam had no idea where she was. 'Which way? Which way?' She mentally was screaming at herself. Finally Sam turned and looked up to see a fire escape on one of the buildings. 'I can go up there right? I've never heard of anyone getting mugged on top of a roof before.' She thought as she walked towards the ally that the fire escape was in. Before she knew what was happening a large hand covered her mouth, and she tried to scream but it came out muffled.

"If you shut up, maybe this won't be as painful fer ya" said a deep voice that sounded like it was plagued by years of chain smoking. Sam tried clawing at his hand and arm trying to get him to let go, but he wouldn't budge. She heard two others behind her chuckling and she felt tears starting to brim her eyes. She was thrown against the ally wall and hit hard.

"It's gettin' awfully cold out, what do you suggest we do to warm up huh?" One said in a slick voice that made Sam want to cringe. She looked up to see three guys no older than twenty-five. Two of them were pretty big and looked like wild hyenas ready to pounce. The third guy was off to the side, he wasn't as big as the others, but the look in his eyes could make the toughest of men cringe.

"S-stay away" Sam said as she slowly started to get up and back away.

"Aw how cute, it's her first time" the first guy said coldly, he smirked and started walking towards her.

Sam kept backing away until she felt her back hit the wall. She could have passed out right then and there, her heart sank, it was a dead end.

* * *

Leonardo stood at the top of a building along with his brothers ready to split up for patrol. He knew winter was here, and it got colder and colder each night. It was the time of the year that patrols became shorter, but they still had to be just as thorough.

"Alright guys, we all ready?" Leo said turning towards his brothers. Raphael was leaning against the far wall while Michelangelo was trying to beat the next level on his gameboy as Donatello watched.

Raph walked over towards Mikey, "let's go chucklehead." he said as he smacked the back of his head.

"Oww, take it easy on the melon raph" Mikey rubbed his head and put his gameBoy away. "Well I don't know about you guys, but turtle titan is ready to beat up some bad dudes."

Leo and Raph groaned while Donnie shook his head. "Yea, have fun wit turtle twirp over 'ere" Raph said pointing to Mikey.

"Ok guys, lets get going, remember to call if you see something suspicious" Leo said as Raph clapped his shoulder as a silent way of saing 'let's go, they get it'

Leo and Raph jumped to the next building and Donnie and Mikey went the opposite way.

(Donnie and Mikey)

"I could reaaally go for some pizza right about now" Mikey said stopping and smelling the air coming from the pizzeria across the street.

"You had like four slices of pizza before we left, how much pizza do you need." Don said stopping to face his brother.

"As much as I could possibly eat" Mikey laughed and Don rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"C'mon Mike" Don jumped to the next building and Mikey followed.

"You up for a race? I mean, that is...if you're ok with losing to the battle nexus champion of course" Mikey rubbed his nails against his chest acting all nonchalant.

"Oh you're on, but just know that you're in for a wake up call" Don took off in a sprint and leapt to the next building.

"Hey, that's cheating!" Mikey yelled and ran after him, catching up quickly.

"Don't act like you weren't about to do the same!" Don yelled back, he was pushing hard on each step for extra momentum.

"Yea... But at least-" Mikey was cut off

"Sshh" Donnie put his hand up to signal to Mikey to be quiet.

"Get back here!" A voice said coming from down below, Michelangelo took out his phone to call Leonardo.

"Where ya gonna go eh?!" Another voice said

Donatello and Michelangelo both looked down to see three guys chasing a teenage girl, who at the moment didn't realize they all stopped running and started to sneak away to hide.

"Mike? What's going on." Leonardo said answering the phone.

"Hey Leo, we got a problem... The purple dragons, they're back, and they're after some dudette."

(Leo & Raph)

"Alright where are you?" Leo waved Raph on to follow him. "How did you wind up-" *sigh* "You know what, doesn't matter, we're on our way" Leo hung up the phone and Raph caught up to him.

"Ey, what's goin on fearless?" Raph asked while staying at the same pace as Leo.

"Mike said there's a couple purple dragons chasing down a girl" Leo jumped the the next roof along with Raph with a grunt.

"Purple dragons? They're back? Raph was actually kind of happy, he missed beating down the dragons, but he knew it wouldn't be good if they were regrouping.

"It could just be what's left of them" Leo slowed down when he saw Donatello step out from the shadows and waved him over. Both Leo and Raph came over slowly and saw the girl get thrown to the wall.

"Well, we ready?" Leo said quietly, and received a singal nod from his brothers before they all disappeared into the shadows.

* * *

Sam felt her back pressed against the wall and the hot breath of the man inches away from her face. Everything was happening in slow motion, it was too much like home, too much to process.

(flashback)

Sam reached for the old worn out door handle to hell, another word for it could be home, but it didn't seem right.

"Please don't be awake, please don't be awake." Sam quietly chanted to her self, hoping the devil himself would be kind enough to give her just one night where she could relax.

But that would be too much to ask.

"Where you been girl?" he said, no doubt he was drunk.

"I was out uncle Tony, I'll punish myself by going to my room and I won't bother you the rest of the night"

He chuckled softly, his laugh always put her on edge, and he knew that. "You don't think your gonna get off that easy do ya?" He asked, but it wasn't a question.

Sam knew all too well it wouldn't be that easy, it never was. "...no" was all she could say before she was pinned, hot breath coming at her face, and she was thrown to the ground.

She got bloody nose and a split lip that night. He had gone easy on her, of course that was only because he was too tired to continue beating her.

(end flashback)

There was a scream and the clang of metal. Sam was pushed to the ground. Her heart was pounding and her eyes were met with one of the thugs as he fell to the ground and screamed as he was dragged back by a chain. He flew up in the air, hanging upside down, chain around his ankles. Sam sat up and watched as the other two men were taken into the shadows, and they were silenced. It was quiet, and she had no idea what just happened. She looked around frantically not knowing what to do, hoping that chain wasn't coming after her next.

"Are you ok?" Said a voice somewhere in the shadows where the men disappeared.

* * *

**Hope you guys like :) Please review! I want to know what you guys think about it so far. Thank you so much to Ciang for the review!**


	3. Darkness

Sam looked around, she tried to look for any sign of where the voice came from. Everything was oddly quiet with only the sounds of the continuous traffic of the city. He cleared his throat and she flinched. She grabbed her bag and slowly stood up. She hesitated before she spoke, all that could come out of her mouth was a simple "what?"

"I asked if you were ok, you look like you got beat up pretty good" he said, his tone was serious and slightly intimidating.

"...uh, yeah, I-I think I'm ok..where-who are you?" Sam looked around to every dark corner and wondered just how hard she hit her head. She was scared that whoever was talking to her was just trying to lour her in, but then again, what did she have to lose? He just saved her anyway. Besides he sounded...slightly concerned. He was quiet and the silence between them was making her grow impatient.

"...I think it would be best if you didn't see me, you should head home." he said, his tone still serious but there was something else. Defensiveness maybe?

"Ok...well thank you, for saving me." She could have gone on about how thankful she was, but she was never one for sharing her feelings so she just left it at that. Plus she kind of just wanted to leave the confines of the darkness, and the voice she wasn't even sure was there, and go find a moonlit rooftop. She stood there waiting for an answer but when she didn't get one she figured it was time to leave. She slowly made her way out of the ally and down the street leading back to the busier part of town, even at the late hours of the night. Her back was starting to hurt from when she was thrown, and she was favoring her left arm.

She finally got to a building she thought would be okay, and climbed up the rusty fire escape. It took a lot of effort to get up with the pain she was in, and by the time she was on the roof she was out of breath and ready to sleep. She dropped her bag down and pulled out her blanket. She took out an extra sweatshirt and threw it over the one she already had on. She didn't to wake up shivering again. The corner she settled into wasn't the comfiest but at this point it didn't really matter. Her duffle bag scraped against the gravel as she pulled it under hear head, and she turned to her side swiping away the bangs that fell into her face. Her throat felt tight and her sight started to become blurry. She couldn't hold it all in anymore, and she cried.

* * *

The guys followed her into town making sure she got there ok, and once Leonardo gave the clear that she would be okay with the decent amount of cars and people around, they headed back home to end their patrol. The way back was mostly quiet as they ran gracefully, silently, and stayed hidden in the shadows. Once they were closer to home, they became more livley thanks to one of Michelangelo's races. He and Leonardo finished at a tie with Raphael close behind throwing himself at them, while Donatello jogged over to the dog pile and made his way into the sewer first eventually hearing his brothers bickering following behind him.

"You guys only won cause ya gotta head start" Raph said, peeved that he didn't finish first.

"Ok dude, how was it a head start when I was behind you when I called for a race?" Mikey laughed and Raph just huffed.

(2 weeks later)

Raphael stormed through the winding sewer tunnels, the walls were all a blur as he passed by and he was practically seeing red. He needed to cool off, and he really needed a purple dragon to put in their place right now. The scent of the air changed quickly from musky sewer tunnel to fast food and cigarettes all with the swift motion of lifting and sliding a manhole cover. He was up a fire escape and running across rooftops in a matter of seconds.

It wasn't until twenty minutes later that he came to a stop to catch his breath. He leaned his arms onto the hard edge of the building and slowed his breath in attempt to relax the way master Splinter taught him. The cool breeze sent chills up his arms. He was finally starting to calm down when he heard garbage cans being knocked into and a loud short scream before it was covered up.

"Bout time" was all he could say before he jumped down into the shadows.

...

Sam was sprinting and her heart was pounding. She hadn't had any problems with muggers since the last time, and she did not want this problem again. The buildings were flashing by her as she looked for somewhere to hide. Her feet skidded to a halt when one of the guys ran out from the ally in front of her holding a crowbar and breathing heavily. She ran towards the closest fire escape she saw and jumped to the ladder. She was pulling her self up when one of them grabbed her ankle and threw her down, knocking her into the trash cans. She was quickly grabbed and hoisted up. She started to scream but was cut off when a large calloused hand covered her mouth. Her mind couldn't process what was going on, she heard the muffled voices and laughter of the men as they all pushed her around.

Out of no where a sai flew past her head pinning one guy to the wall. All of the men seemed to get ready for a fight, but she couldn't see against who. The grasp of the man who was holding her kept shifting, as he was getting impatient. A young guy in the front screamed as a chain came out of the darkness wrapping around his ankle and pulled him in. All of the men seemed to freeze for a minute. Sam had heard of the rumors of the night watcher, but never knew he was actually real.

"C'mon! Show yourself!" The big guy said trying to hide his fear as his feet shifted back and forth uncomfortably.

"Alright, but just rememba you asked fer it" the voice said with a dark chuckle.

Out from the darkness came a large muscular green walking talking turtle. Sam's eyes widened, but not from fear. She didn't know what she was at the moment, but her eyes scanned the turtle taking in every detail. All the men backed away but still kept they're fighting stances.

"Shit! Its one'a dem green freaks!" One shouted "Get 'im!" They all ran for the turtle but they were no match for him. He somehow moved with speed agility and force and the number of opponents were running out quickly. The man holding Sam cursed and threw Sam into the wall, her head was the first the to hit and the darkness overtook her.

* * *

**Sorry it took so long to post! Thank you for the nice reviews! Please continue reviewing and letting me know whatcha think!**


End file.
